Windows 2008 File Content Search resx files–Solution

Today I was trying to achieve something that was simple in Windows 3.1. Searching a directory in Windows, and checking the content of files for the search term.

In this instance, I was searching something from the content of a Web Server directory that contained some resx files. These files are used in a DotNetNuke website to deliver language content to a module.

In every version of Windows up until the "Mac Version” (that is the version that makes you get a mac… i.e. Vista). the ability to search was easy.

Now, in Windows 2008 server, they have replicated the crap that they call search in Windows 7. So basically no one know how to resolve some strange results.

I search the net and found many solutions, but non worked for me.

This appears to be one solution: (but who knows)

Open Server Manager and select Roles in the left pane. Then in the center pane click on Add Roles.

If you get the Before You Begin page just click Next, depending on if you have installed a role before and chose to skip this page in the future you might not see it.

The next page will discuss the File Services Role and what you can do with it. After reading go ahead and click Next.

In the Select Role Services page place a check next to Windows Search Service and then clickNext.

The next page will ask you to select the volumes you want to index. Place a check next to the volumes you want indexed and then click Next. As a note this is a test server so I don’t have separate data drives, be careful indexing your system drive as it can cause performance issues.

Confirm your selections by reviewing the information and then click on Install.

Hopefully you see a Installation Succeeded message and you can click Close.

That’s it! You will now be able to execute searches on the Windows server through Windows Search Services.

But

Because this is a web server, I really have no desire to turn on service that case the machine to run indexing all day long and possibly slow down my machine.

So I decided that after 30 minutes of rooting around like a novice on something as simple as this, I should stop wasting time and just do something I know.

I pulled down all the files to my local Windows 7 machine, and searched the files there. Low and behold, NOTHING. Apparently I did not give the machine enough time to index or something.

What Junk!

So I folder shared the files to my shiny Mac, and within a few seconds had the result that Microsoft failed to give me on two operating system, and to someone with years of server admin / network admin experience.

I find that as I get older, I just don’t have the time or inclination to jump through all the Microsoft hoops to get something like search to return a simple result.